Mitt Romney – Still Unprincipled

Of course, it never mattered whether Romney “really” believed what he was saying, because it became clear years ago that he would have said almost anything to win. In that case, it was a good bet that Romney was always more likely to lie to his audience than not, and for that reason he disqualified himself through sheer, overwhelming dishonesty. When in doubt, it was safe to assume that Romney was lying, and it was usually safe to assume the worst about his intentions. If there was a chance that he might cave in to hard-liners and ideologues in his party, there was no reason to believe that he would ever stand up to them. When the 47% remarks came out, it didn’t matter whether he believed what he had said, because he had been willing to say it and he had done so because he was so desperate to appeal to the worst elements in his party. As it was, everyone assumed that he didn’t believe what he was saying, but we attributed it to his unprincipled willingness to pander, which simply made his awful statements seem that much worse. (bold mine)

It was fairly obvious from the beginning that Romney had no principals or real ideology. He was driven by the belief that he was entitled to the presidency.

It’s hard to imagine that the people who voted for him didn’t feel the need to take a shower afterward.

dduck

I think its time for you adults to leave the sand box and grow up. The election is over the Reps screwed up and the Dems did a fantastic job. Continuing to pile on reflects badly on the commenters and, BTW, I don’t appreciate my name being used in a taunting way with or without a smiley.

brcarthey

@Shannon, that’s not fair to the douche industry. At least, they’re trying to perform a helpful service to more than 47% of the population. 😉

brcarthey

@dduck, even though I just tried to post a little humor, I agree with you that gloating is not a good reflection on winners in any contest especially when both sides have a great deal of animosity towards each other.

However, Romney has opened himself up to some criticism with what he said in his recent interview. Although one might agree with his statements, his detractors are going to dig up his past campaigns speeches and compare them. This will just give us another distraction for the media to focus on instead of anything of substance in DC. Last week, it was Woodward v. Sperling, before that it was Republicans v. Hagel. It’s always the bright, shiny object to keep us distracted from the politicians who are sh***ing in the sandbox, then covering it up.

cjjack

When’s the last time a losing Presidential candidate went on a talk show so soon after the election to whine about how he should really be sitting in the White House? How many losing candidates’ wives went on the same talk show to whine about how “the media” denied their husband their rightful seat in the Oval Office?

Even Al Gore, who has every right to be cheesed off about an election result, didn’t whine this much. To this day, when he’s asked about that election on a talk show, his body language screams “really? Can we please talk about what I’m doing now?”

Yet it isn’t just the Romney’s sense of personal entitlement that’s on display here. It’s bigger than that. How many times in the last 4 years have you heard the phrase “take our country back” from folks on the right? They genuinely believe the country somehow belongs to them, and whenever a Democrat is sitting in the White House, something is terribly amiss in the Land of the Free.

A sand box is a good analogy. Both sides fought over who got to play in the sand box. Fought for over a year. Now that Barack Obama is once again sitting in the sand box alone, the GOP is screaming “no fair!” Just like they did for the last four years.

zusa1

At least the parents of 22 year old interns would not have had to worry (since we’re talking about “douchy” behavior).

ShannonLeee

calling a douche a douche is not gloating, neither is it piling on. it is simply stating the obvious.

I will admit to being interested in hearing what Romney really thinks. Maybe in a couple of decades he will come out and let us all know his real opinions on things. Politicians lie and we have to do our best to interpret those lies to find some sort of truth. I would like to just see how close I was in my interpretation.

SteveK

BTW, I don’t appreciate my name being used in a taunting way with or without a smiley.

I actually did want to hear your opinion dd… Too bad you chose to jump on the commenters instead of respond to the points raised in Ron’s post.

Cjjack, I agree with your perspective on this matter. The amount of disrespect that Obama has garnered (whether viewed rightly or wrongly deserved) does seem to be unprecedented in recent memory. Romney’s “woe-is-me” tale is just part of a bigger thing. Your point about Romney’s sense of entitlement really could be extended to what I phrased to my wife this weekend as “the new kings and queens”-class; the ultra-rich that feel entitled to any number of things that are too long to list. They are the ones who have benefited disproportionately more than most others as a result of globalization.

zusa1

I don’t think taunting other forum participants is appropriate either and am surprised it is not addressed by the moderators.

dduck

“I actually did want to hear your opinion dd… Too bad you chose to jump on the commenters instead of respond to the points raised in Ron’s post.”
FOS.

BRC, I agree with your second comment and you get the “One Foot Out of The Sand Box Award.

slamfu

I’m still shocked that after all the mistakes the Romney campaign made, like one per week, and then basically telling half the nation they are losers he doesn’t give a crap about, he was withing 4 percentage points. That is really concerning.

roro80

It’s a bit (ahem) disingenuous to say he didn’t really believe it. It made every policy he campaigned on make sense. If you believe A, then you work to enact policy B. Things can get a bit more complicated — If you do Y which you believe in, then even though you could otherwise accomplish ABC and D, you wouldn’t get the opportunity because you wouldn’t be re-elected. But in this case, it’s not. There was a simple logical line between believing A and fighting to enact B.

roro80

“I agree with your second comment and you get the “One Foot Out of The Sand Box Award.”

I agree with your second comment, but seek clarification on what “dd agrees with”.
Make it as simple as A,B,C. :-0

KP

I saw an interview with Tom Brokaw on MSNBC where he was questioned about the Romney interview, among other things. He was understanding, respectful and complimentary.

dduck

KP, horrors, Brokaw must have been the victim of a Rommney Vulcan Mind Meld, the effective one, not the Jedi version which is really just a fancy speech.

rudi

But the Wall Street Journal and Larison/TAC are liebrul sites 😉

KP

Brokaw, a pretty straight shooter, saying Mitt and Ann are good, hard-working, charitable people. He understands their disappointment and wishes them well. No anger, no animus, even though his interviewer tried to evoke different reaction. It was refreshing.

Second point, he longed for the President to show additional leadership. He wondered why the President is out campaigning. He suggested the President go to Camp David with leaders of both parties.

Third point, he feels we suffer from too many ideologues (from both parties) in Washington.

KP

Steve, I like your comments about Yuma, 8 east to Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay. I know the venue well and have seen some great shows there as the sun sets and the stars shine. Happy to buy you a micro brew anytime.

SteveK

KP, Just now saw your comment… Thanks!

Yeah, Humphrey’s really is something else, and for us out-of-towners, only having to walk a couple hundred feet to your room after the show is an added plus.

I’m looking forward to this years schedule in April. Saw Chris Isaak and Lyle Lovett there last year and both shows were great.

Apologies to TMV for being so far off topic. Hey Kevin, Maybe we can talk Joe & Ron into joining us for an apology brew.